Lakeport Brewing Corporation

Lakeport Brewing Corporation

I have selected the Lakeport Brewing Corporation for my research paper. Lakeport is the fourth largest domestic supplier of beer in Ontario. The Lakeport Brewery is located on a 7.2 acre property in Hamilton, Ontario, with the brewery and warehouse facilities taking up approximately 275,000 square feet. The brewery is located in Canada's most densely populated area (http://www.lakeportbeverage.ca,). Lakeport claims their brewery is in close proximity to almost 71,000,000 consumers, this including the 11-north eastern United States (http://www.lakeportbeverage.ca).

Lakeport produces 11 brands of beer, which are; Brava Cerveza, Brava Lime, Lakeport Honey Lager, Lakeport Ice, Lakeport Strong, Lakeport Pilsner, Lakeport Light, Steeler, Mongoose and Wee Willy (http://www.lakeportbeverage.ca). They also produce Brava Negra which is not mentioned on their site, yet it can be purchased at the Beer Store (http://www.thebeerstore.ca). Lakeport does not offer an ale, which I found surprising.

Brava Cerveza dubbed "the beer of the summer"(http://www.lakeportbeverage.ca) is a 5% abv lager. Brava Cerveza is the most expensive beer that Lakeport has to offer, setting you back $34.95 for 24 bottles at the Beer Store (http://www.thebeetstore.ca). Advertisements for Brava Cerveza contain slogans such as "100% summer", "The cooler side of summer" and "Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun" (http://www.lakeportbeverage.ca) combined with very relaxing pictures. The ads seem to be targeted at anyone who would want to just kick back and relax.

Brava Lime a beer offering the same qualities as Brava Cerveza but with a taste of lime. You can pick up a case of 24 bottles of this 5% abv lager for 29.95 (http://www.thebeetstore.ca). So if you like Brava Cerveza and don't mind a little bit of lime you will be saving yourself $5. Another beer available is Brava Negra, although not mentioned at all on Lakeport's website, is a dark lager with 5% abv (http://www.thebeetstore.ca).

Now on to the Lakeport brand beers. Starting with the beer that knocked Corona off the top 10 list of best selling beers in Ontario, Lakeport Honey Lager (http://www.brewstraveler.com). This 5% abv lager with a taste of honey is slowly pushing its way to the top. This is the first time the small brewery has managed to land a spot in the top 10, and is now featured on the Beer Stores "Big 10" (a display of the top 10 selling beers in Ontario) (http://www.thebeetstore.ca), which is a huge accomplishment for Lakeport. Currently a case of 24 bottles of Lakeport Honey Lager costs $26.40 at the Beer Store. Other Lakeport Brands include Lakeport Ice a 5.5% abv lager which costs $30.50 for a case, Lakeport Strong, a 5.9% strong beer which costs $32.90 for a case, Lakeport Pilsner a 5% abv lager and Lakeport Light a 4% abv light beer which both cost $26.40 a case (http://www.thebeetstore.ca).

Lakeport also brews a couple other brands of beer which are less well known. Steeler a 5% abv lager which sells for $28 a case, but is on sale regularly and at quite a deal. (http://www.thebeetstore.ca) One ad on the Lakeport site shows that Steeler has previously been sold for $21.30 which works out to be $.89 a bottle. (http://www.lakeportbeverage.ca) Lakeport also produces Wee Willy Beer yet another 5% abv lager and an 8% abv Malt Liquor called Mongoose Malt Liquor. It can only be purchased in a 950ml King Cans which cost $4.40 each. (http://www.thebeetstore.ca)

The main strength of Lakeport as we all know is its price. Its "buck a beer" campaign has landed Lakeport Honey Lager a spot in the fridge of many beer drinkers. The price alone is what has made Lakeport what it is today. The bigger breweries like Molson and Labatt have all introduced their lower priced brands such as Lucky and Carling to compete with the ever increasing popularity of Lakeport.

Lakeport distributes its beer, to Canada and the United states. Lakeport claims on their site that they have 71,000,000 consumers in close proximity to their brewery. (http://www.lakeportbeverage.ca) So I think another strength of theirs is their location, they have a lot of potential to become a leading seller in the United States.

As for their target market, I could not find a company mission statement or any information stating their actual target market, but judging from their advertisements I have come to the following conclusions; Their Lakeport brands, are targeted at a younger consumer, one who is most likely in the beginning of their career and does not have a lot of cash to spare. They are also targeting students, which seems to be the perfect target because they consume a lot of beer and need to save as much money as they can. One of their ads shows 3 males in their early twenties, sitting down to watch the super bowl with the caption "Make Lakeport Honey Lager your playoff beer and save hundreds" (http://www.lakeportbeverage.ca). I didn't find any ads for Lakeport that mention the quality of their beer, every ad relates to the cost of the beer. They are also targeting the "smart" consumer, one who won't pay $10 more for a similar product. With slogans like "Are you still drinking overpriced regular beer? Well, now it's time to switch" (http://www.lakeportbeverage.ca). Their Brava line of beer seems to be targeting